Promised College Gifts By State Lag By $100 Million

Frustrated with waiting years for the state to match major donations, fund-raisers at Florida's public universities are considering pressing the state to borrow money to match the gifts.

Top fund-raisers at Florida Atlantic, Florida International and other state universities recently brainstormed about asking for a bond, backed by lottery proceeds, to cover the more than $100 million in matching gifts that the state has promised but not yet paid.

So far, the idea is only that. The fund-raisers have yet to gauge support within their own administrations, let alone in state government.

In an effort to attract contributions, the state Legislature agreed in 1979 to match all or part of big gifts for scholarships, research, prominent professorships and certain facilities at public universities and community colleges.

"People really like the idea that their money is being leveraged ... They feel they're getting maximum bang for their buck," explains Rick Schuster, a former Broward Community College fund-raiser recently appointed to run Palm Beach Community College's money-raising operation.

The incentive proved so powerful that during the last several years, the amount of gifts eligible for matches has outstripped the amount of money the Legislature has set aside for them. The Legislature decides what to spend on the matching program year-to-year, and the allotment has fluctuated in recent years while the waiting list grew. The Legislature tried in 2000 to rein in the backlog by lowering the matching scale for gifts over $600,000, but the effort stalled.

Since 1979, the state has spent more than $541 million on matching gifts, by Senate education budget staffers' count.

But still, the university system is waiting for about $110 million in matching money, according to the state Board of Education. Some items have been on the first-come, first-served list for more than three years, according to university fund-raisers.

Miami's Florida International University, for instance, is waiting for $8.7 million in matching money -- about $500,000 left over from as long ago as the 1999-2000 school year, said fund-raising chief Howard Lipman. Florida Atlantic University, based in Boca Raton, is waiting for roughly $7 million, according to its top fund-raiser, Carla Coleman.

Community colleges also have a backlog of gifts awaiting matches.

As the waiting list has lingered, some donors have become concerned about when -- or whether -- their contributions will grow into the gifts they envisioned.

Overall, "they've been incredibly patient, but all of the schools are concerned that our donors won't stay patient forever," said Coleman. Some already have talked about asking for their money back, said Leslie Bram, a University of Florida fund-raiser: In theory, bonds could provide an influx of cash earmarked only for matching gifts. But the state constitution generally envisions using bonds for conservation and bricks-and-mortar projects, though it also specifically allows bonds to finance student loans.

It would be "more challenging" to justify bonds for such items as professorships, said state Division of Bond Finance Director Ben Watkins.

Jennifer Peltz can be reached at jpeltz@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6636.